How much your life has changed from a year ago?

posted on9/01/2015 2:34:00 PM

How much your life has changed from a year ago?

By Dorsa Banihashemi

September 2013: 69kg

May 2014: 46kg

Height: 156cm

Four-litre ice cream tubs, chocolate, biscuits, cake and pizza were on the menu every day. Once I ran out of these supplies, I would even start eating plain sugar … it didn’t matter what I ate. I wasn’t even enjoying it after the first few bites. I would eat until I felt ill, and the only thing that would make me feel better was more binge eating. I never induced vomiting (as I hate it), so I would stay up at nighttime waiting for the food to digest and do it all again the next day.

After work or university, I would tell my parents I was going to the gym, which wasn’t altogether untrue … I would lock myself in the change rooms and binge eat there, too. More than anything, my binge eating impacted my mental health. I felt extremely self-conscious when buying my ‘groceries’ and would often pretend to be on the phone as if asking a friend what they would like me to buy for them. But that was far from the truth: I had cut myself off from friends and social events, and began suffering from mild depression. It was a vicious cycle that I felt I had no control over.

I tried several ‘diets’, restricting my calories and food intake drastically, particularly carbohydrates. This would work for a short period of time, until I had one treat, felt incredibly guilty as if all my efforts were wasted and would start bingeing again.

Finally, after suffering in silence for so long, I confided in one of my colleagues, Joelle Christine, winner of the bikini division in the 2013 Natural Olympia. I clearly remember her looking at me and telling me – as if it was the easiest thing in the world – that I could get up on stage next year. Joelle then introduced me to flexible dieting.